


Live to Dream Again

by AlyxRae



Series: just say the word [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fashion & Models, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Cute, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Family Drama, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Kinda, Long-Term Relationship(s), M/M, Marriage, Wedding Fluff, Wedding Planning, Weddings, but like its really kinda lowkey, couple of cuties over here, i got a new idea, sooooooo, whoops
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-07-17
Packaged: 2019-02-27 23:10:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13258563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlyxRae/pseuds/AlyxRae
Summary: Its been six years. Six years filled with side aching laughter, quiet conversations in the dark and random little squabbles that all healthy couples work through. Lance and Keith had always taken their relationship on step at a time, never rushing or trying to fit someone else's agenda, just the two of them side by side.Now, for some crazy reason, they decided to get married with only a month to plan it. Sounds like fun, right?(you don't have to read Say the Word to appreciate this fluffiness, but if your new and want to see how these nerds came together please check it out!)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So i actually wasn't planning on posting this just yet. But I'm kinda in a YOLO mood so, here's the first chapter! I had to re-read Say the Word to get back into the swing of things and to be honest, don't really know if this is all that great. but eh, YOLO. 
> 
> I hope you like the beginning! HERE WE GO ON ANOTHER ADVENTURE.

“Keith.”

A quiet groan came from somewhere in the depths of the sheets.

“Keeeiiiitthhhh.”

The blankets shifted.

“Keith. Twenty three days.”

“…”

“Twenty three days. C’mon, aren’t you excited?” Lance tugged on the bundle of sheets next to him. A tuff of black hair poked out followed by another groan.

“…go away…” the blanket burrito mumbled.

“Can’t. You’re stuck with me. And soon, it’ll be for life.” Lance wriggled in excitement, shaking the whole bed. “Twenty three days, Keith. Twenty three days!”

“Lance.” The head of one Keith Kogane popped out of the top of the burrito and fixed his fiancé with an annoyed look. “Do you want to make it to the wedding?”

“I mean, yeah that’s the plan.”

“Then go away and let me sleep before I throttle you.”

“Aww I love my little grumpy cat in the mornings.”

Lance leaned over for a kiss, but Keith quickly dove back into his bundle of blankets. Lance chuckled and combing through the tuffs of Keith’s hair that were splayed across the pillow. He couldn’t believe it was finally happening.

They were getting married. Twenty three days from now, they would be husbands. Officially bound together for life, not that Lance needed a little piece of paper to tell him that. He knew for a long time that Keith was always going to be a part his life. Through thick and thin, he would always have Keith.

That is if the jetlagged potato lying next to him didn’t kill him before forever could happen. And that was still a very real possibility.  

Granted, it was kind of early. Keith made it home from his last job around four am, and now it was eight. Lance sat for a little while longer, watching the steady rise and fall of the sheets. He carefully crept out of bed and got dressed as quietly as he could.

Cold pizza was not going to cut it for breakfast. Lance shut the fridge door and when to the pantry for inspiration. Finding nothing there either, the excitable young man realized that a trip to the store was in order.

Lance hopped down the stairs to their apartment, twirling his keys around his finger. He walked down to the garage, cutting a familiar path to a red motorcycle and completely bypassing his own car. Lance slipped on his helmet, identical the Keith’s in every way except for color, and turned the key in the ignition.

The motor hummed to life, setting off a little buzz in Lance that he never got bored of. Ever since Keith took him on that first ride, he was lost to the thrill of it. Loving the freedom that came by riding with the wind at your back.

Lance kicked up the stand and slowly backed out of the spot. Once he was clear, he revved the engine.  

It’s a funny thing looking back on everything now. If someone told him six years ago that he’d be riding Keith Kogane’s motorcycle to the grocery store, one of three things would have happened:

One: He would have laughed, told the person they were crazy and continued on with his day.

Two: Similar to one, but there would also be excessive day dreaming afterwards, Lance (in true fanboy fashion) would imagine what it would be like riding off into the sunset with his celebrity crush. There might include a little drool

Three: “Are you from the future? Are you!? Please tell me that you are!” *cue incoherent shrieking and Pidge filming it in the background*

But here he was, six years older and cruising between cars on a lazy Sunday morning. Lance couldn’t help but grin.

The ride to the store and back was anything but exciting, but Lance had a skip in his step regardless. Locking up the bike, he slung his bag over his shoulder and headed back upstairs.

Breakfast was a beautiful Breakfast Quesadilla™. Not a breakfast burrito like a normal person, but a pound and a half quesadilla that took years of practice to actually flip without letting all of the goods leak out. There was cheese layered on both sides, chorizo, potatoes, and scrambled eggs. The tortillas were crisped perfectly so that they crunched when Lance rolled the pizza cutter across them.

He split the glorious monstrosity onto two plates, cut up and orange so that they could pretend to be healthy and set the plates on a tray. He’d come back for the coffee later. Last time Lance tried to balance a coffee mug on a tray, he spilled it all over freshly made crepes. He crumbled to the ground in despair as Keith rolled his eyes and sat on the ground to console him.

Lance pushed open the door with his hip, smiling at the bundle that still hadn’t moved.

“Rise and shine, Snow White.” He called out with a cheery tone.

Keith’s hand shot of from under the covers and flung a pillow in Lance’s direction. At least, what he thought was Lance’s direction. Thankfully Sleepy Keith had terrible aim so the fluffy projectile landed near their closet instead.

“Fuck off.” He grumbled.

“Why I never.” Lance stuck out his bottom lip and began talking in a weird accent. “And here I am, slaving away all mornin’ just to make my boo some grub. Guess I’ll just scurry away and toss this here garbage…”

The blank pile moved. “Wait. Fuck. Come back.” Keith’s head popped up, his hair like a messy, dark halo around his head.

“I don’t think you really deserve this.” Lance tipped the tray down so that Keith could see the food. A glob of cheese oozed out of one of the slices. Well, vegan cheese. This was a no dairy household because of Keith’s sensitive stomach.

“Lance…” Keith whined. Actually whined. It only happened when he was particularly out of it. Like when he was tired or drunk. And Lance, well, Lance was a weak man.

The young man practically bounded over to the bed, careful to keep the food from slipping. He set the tray down in front of Keith who pushed himself up to sit.

As Lance returned with the coffee, Keith was already on his second slice.

“How is it?” He asked as he leaned over for a quick kiss. Keith tasted like chorizo and citrus. 

“So good. Thanks.”

“Anytime.”

“Now why the fuck am I awake right now?”

 _Ah. So eloquent._ Lance tugged the tray to the middle of the bed and grabbed a slice of the quesadilla. “We’ve got stuff to do, remember?”

“…no?”

“Wedding stuff, babe. It’s kind of a miracle we go this appointment at all.”

Keith shrugged. “I honestly do not remember what we’re doing today. I mean, what else is there? We’re having the party at Allura and Shiro’s house, Shay’s family is making the food, Hunk is helping them with the cake, Pidge said they already created the best playlist of all times for the party—“

“Every time you call out wedding a party, I die a little on the inside.”

“Technically, it is a party.”

“The best party of our lives.”

“What about Matt’s birthday last year?”

“O-kay that’s a close second. But we still have stuff to do before the big day.”

Keith frowned. “Like what?”

“Flowers.” Lance chomped into his food, holding back a delighted moan as the tastes exploded on his tongue.

“Flowers.” Keith deadpanned.

“Yup.”

“Lance. Shiro and Allura’s backyard is filled with plants.”

“ _Plants_. Not flowers. There’s a difference.”

Keith simply sighed, too tired or maybe too confused to deal with his fiancé at the moment.

Their wedding was going to be small, not really traditional, but there will still somethings that Lance wanted to do. Like having center pieces with flowers cascading onto the tables, a single rose pinned to his suit, maybe a few lilies floating in the pool…

Twinkle lights hanging above their heads.

Different colored table cloths across round tables.

Mismatching plates that only added to the haphazard charm.

More lights in the bushes and trees.

The dance floor nothing more than a wide open space of grass.

Stars shining brightly in the night sky.

And of course, Keith.

Keith, looking up at those stars with a twinkle in his storm colored eyes. The pale moon making his skin glow. Keith, with his head resting gently on Lance’s shoulder while they slowly danced. The two of them making lazy circles on the dance floor while the rest of the world continued to move around them.

Lance could picture it, clear as day. His wedding, _their_ wedding. It was a moment he had been waiting his entire life for, but the details had always been hazy. Lance had thought of the day he’d get married, but never in detail. He never pictured where it would happen, when, what kind of food they would have, what the color would be of his tie and so on. It was always just a distant blur far off in the future. Now all Lance saw was Keith.

Keith pulling him close when they danced. Keith shoving cake into his face. Keith sliding a ring onto his finger…

“Lance?”

Lance blinked, realizing that he was spacing out. “Huh? Sorry babe I was just, uh… thinking.”

Keith tilted his head to the side like a puppy. “About what?”

“Stuff…”

“Stuff, huh? Well if you’re so busy thinking about stuff, you won’t mind if I have one of your slices, right?”

“Righ- wait what? Keith! Leggo! That’s mine!”

Keith had reached out lightning fast and swiped the last piece of Lance’s quesadilla out from under his nose. Lance shrieked, shoving the tray out of his way. He fought valiantly for his food, but victory was not in his future. Keith shoved Lance away and kept him at bay with one foot on his chest. He quickly stuffed the entire slice in his mouth, a feat that was both impressive and devastating to Lance.

“Okay, you asked for it, pretty boy.” Lance grabbed Keith’s ankle and began tickling his foot with no mercy.

Keith laughed and laughed, trying to pull his foot free. Lance tugged his fiancé closer, his long fingers tickling the sides of Keith’s abdomen with reckless abandon.

“La-Lance! Lance s-top… ugh you suck!” Keith grabbed a pillow and shoved it in Lance’s face. The energetic young man wasn’t thrown off at all. He tossed the pillow away and threw his leg over Keith, straddling his hips. Keith was still catching his breath from laughing, a cute flush dusting his cheeks. Lance took a moment to gaze down at his love before carding a hand through his think black hair.

As if reading his mind, Keith looked up. A finger trailed along Lance’s jaw. They’re lips met moments later, slow and steady and conveying an array of emotions neither of them could ever hope to put into words. When they pulled apart, Lance felt like he was twenty one again, kissing Keith for the first time in the rain.

“Twenty three days.” Keith said quietly, his warm breath ghosting Lance’s lips.

Lance grinned. “Twenty three days.”

 

* * *

 

 

The flower shop looked huge on the outside, but inside it was a maze of petals and leaves. A warm, almost humid scent filled the air making the city stench outside disappear in a flash. Lance had been here once before, with Allura months before her own wedding. They were incredible when it came to arrangements and the bouquet they made for Allura alone would have convinced him to hire them for his own special day.

Considering he only proposed to Keith ten days ago, it really was a miracle that they were willing to create arrangements for them with such a small window.

A month to plan a wedding. What the hell were they thinking?

Lance and Keith were led to the back of the store buy the young girl behind the counter where a room was set up for meetings. There were ornate vases with brilliant center pieces on display, bouquets of all shapes and sizes sitting under glass, and a line of boutonnieres laid out on the table.  The girl offered them some water and then went to fetch the owner.

Keith lingered near the center pieces, his brows drawn.

“What’s up?” Lance came up behind him and rested his chin on Keith’s shoulder.

Keith hesitated a bit before he spoke. “We’re not… we’re not getting anything like this, are we?”

The sample in front of them was massive. The vase itself was at least two feet tall with a wide round base. There were roses and jewels and glitter everywhere. It looked like something out of an over the top celebrity wedding. While the two of were technically famous, they were much more down to earth then most would assume. This particular arrangement was just too much.

Lance shook his head. “Not unless you want the tables to be all flowers and no room for food. I mean, it’s pretty, but not exactly our style.”

“Yeah. Not at all.” Keith agreed. “I don’t know, I guess I’m still just a little confused about all this wedding stuff.”

“How? You helped Allura plan things, didn’t you?”

Keith chuckled. “Barely. She handled pretty much everything by herself, remember?”

“Oh yeah… how did she even do that? She like, ordered the food, got the venue, made invitations… how did she pull all that off by herself?”

“I’ve given up trying to understand how Allura does things. Pretty sure she’s Amazon.”

“Dude, I would love to see Allura dressed up as _Wonder Women_. Like, Gal Gadot style _Wonder Woman_. She’d absolutely kill it.”

“Stop calling me ‘dude’. We’re engaged.”

“I’ve been calling you ‘dude’ for the past six years. It’s not going to change anytime soon.”

Keith shook his head and tried to hide the smile on face. Moments later, the owner of the shop entered.

“Hello! So sorry about the wait. I’m Aggie Ryner.” She held out her hand.

Aggie was the perfect picture definition of aging gracefully. She had wise eyes and sun tanned skin that made Lance wonder if she spent a lot of time in the gardens. This shop was a little unique after all. Not only did they sell flowers, but they also grew them. Lance remembered reading about their large garden and greenhouses online and was thoroughly impressed.

“I’m Lance. And this is my fiancé, Keith.” The thrill of calling Keith his fiancé was still incredibly potent.

“Good to meet you and congratulations on your engagement! I have to be honest, one of the girls in the front is a big fan of you band. I may have looked you up online after you called to make the appointment.”

Lance grinned. “Oh, yeah? Well, if she’s around I’d be happy to say hi—“

“Focus, Lance.” Keith teased. “You were the one saying how much work we had to do.”

He had a point. Lance felt his face flush as Aggie began to chuckle.

“Well then, let’s get down to work.” She motioned to the table and set down several binders. “You two sure are taking on a challenge. I don’t remember the last time I help with a wedding with such a tight deadline.”

“Sorry about that.” Lance said immediately. “I hope were not too much of a problem.”

“Oh not at all. From what the few ideas you mentioned on the phone, we should have no problem with your order.”

“Great.”

Lance was a little nervous when Aggie began diving into the details of everything. He knew that they didn’t need much, just a few things to brighten up Allura and Shiro’s back yard and make the place look a little more magical. That didn’t stop him from worrying.

While he managed to keep his cool, he couldn’t help but notice the slight apprehension on Keith’s face. He seemed a little, well, overwhelmed? Lance quietly sighed. Overwhelmed was too strong a word. Lance had seen Keith overwhelmed before and it was much, much different. Over the years, he became trained in the art of reading Keith. Sensing when things weren’t quite right. It took a while for him to know what to do in those situations and after a while, he flat out asked what would help Keith the most when his imagination ran away from him.

Reassurance was key. Just letting the other person know you were there and willing to listen when they wanted to speak. That was the best way to ease Keith’s worries.

Lance eyed the three binders and glanced over to Keith. There was a slight tilt to his brow, his thoughts clouding his already stormy eyes. Lance found Keith’s hand under the table and threaded their fingers together.

The frown on his face smoothed out as Keith turned. Lance smiled, rubbing his thumb along Keith’s hand. A tiny, half smile pulled at Keith’s lips.

The thick binders were full of different flowers, colors and arrangements. There were tons of photos of weddings they had done before in a whole variety of venues. Grand ball rooms, sprawling meadows, tiny local churches and lake side cabins. Aggie had done it all.

“I’ve marked some of the smaller, more intimate weddings we’ve done. Those are going to be right up your alley.” She flipped through one of the binders, gesturing to a bright orange tab. “Now, the ceremony and the reception are all happening at the same place, correct?”

“Yep. It’s a big house outside of the city. We plan on having everything in their backyard.” Lance confirmed.

Aggie jotted down a few things in her notebook. “Well then, next thing to do is to pick your flowers and then we can create and arrangement from there. I’m going to let you two take these with you so you can get a better idea of what you would like. We’ll meet again within the week to finalize everything. Does that sound alright?”

“Works for me. Keith?”

Keith was staring particularly hard a picture of a bouquet. “Huh? Oh, yeah. Yeah that’s fine.”

“Excellent. Well then, it was very nice meeting the two of you! I can’t wait to get started.” Aggie stood, holding out her hand again.

“It was great to meet you too.” Lance was a little reluctant to let go of Keith’s hand. He gathered up the binders and tried to balance them with one arm.

“Congratulations, again. You two are going to be very happy together, I can tell.”

For the first time in the conversation, Keith spoke first. “We’re already are pretty happy, but this will just be a way to share that with our friends and family for a little while.”

Lance felt his heart swell. “And everyone says I’m the sappy one.” He teased.

Keith’s cheeks flared pink. He lifted his hand and flicked Lance in the forehead before walking out of the office. Lance chuckled and said one last round of goodbyes to Aggie.

Hauling three binder’s worth of pictures took more concentration then one would think, so Lance didn’t notice the blonde young women stepping out from behind a basket of lilies. He clipped her shoulder, swearing as the first of the heavy binder’s slipped and fell.

“Shit! I’m so sorry I wasn’t paying attention…” Lance knelt down to grab his stuff, but another hand beat him to it. “Oh. Thanks—“

He looked up for the first time, getting a good look at who he’d run into. A strange rush of emotions swirled in the depths of his memories. Old feelings, dull and damaged, floating to the surface. It was such a strange feeling. Not happy, not sad just… there. Taking up space.

“Hi, Lance.” A strand of long blond hair fell across her cheek.

“Hey, Nyma.”

 

* * *

 

 

Keith turned away from gazing at the carnations when he heard a thump. The noise was followed by a curse from Lance and Keith couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

 _Typical Lance. Can’t leave him alone for a second._ Keith mused.

He made his way back towards the office, spotting Lance’s dark brown hair amongst the hanging plants. He also saw a girl.

She was kind of short, long blond hair tied up in a ponytail high on her head. She was very pretty and also very familiar. Keith recognized her face from Lance’s high school yearbook. This was Nyma, Lance’s ex.

Keith took a breath and walked forward.

“Oh hey, there you are Keith.” Lance grinned, his affectionate gaze always striking Keith like an arrow to the heart. After six years, he really thought he’d be used to it by now. But that wasn’t the case.

“I heard you drop something. You klutz.”

Lance grumbled while next to them, Nyma stifled a giggle. Keith was a little weary about this girl. It took a while for Lance to open up about certain things and after a while, Keith had learned just how hard his break up with Nyma had been. He also learned of the terrible things she said to Lance a few years after they spilt. She was possibly the last person Keith ever wanted to see, right up there with his last foster parents.

Still, there was nothing Keith could do about the past and right now, Lance seemed okay. If he wasn’t, Keith was positive he’d be able to tell. That was one thing he’d gotten better at over the years.

“Oh, Nyma, this is my fiancé, Keith. Keith, this is Nyma.” Lance said her name like he would any stranger. Polite and professional. No real hint of something more. Keith still watched him wearily.

“Nice to meet you.” She said sweetly. Nyma held out her hand and Keith shook it firmly. If she was put off by it, she didn’t show it. “I kind of already knew who you were.”

“Huh?” Keith was caught off guard. Did she stalk Lance or something? No, that was stupid thought. It’s not like they showed off their relationship on every street corner, but it was a pretty solid fact that Keith and Lance were a couple. Her knowing who he was shouldn’t be surprising.

Next to him, Lance bit back a laugh. “Please excuse my fiancé. Sometimes he forgets he’s famous.”

“I guess so.” Nyma agreed.

Keith grumbled. “I… I’m not _famous_ …”

“Shh, Keith, babe. We’ve been over this. You’re right up there with Tyra Banks, Iman, and Janice Dickenson, but like, pre-crazy plastic surgery Janice. OMG please don’t go crazy like Janice. I mean, she makes for great T.V., but I might actually cry if you became addicted to plastic surgery.”

“First off; there is no way in hell I’m going to become addicted to plastic surgery. You’ve made me watch enough Botched for that shit to show up in my nightmares. Second; I thought we agreed that you weren’t going to use text lingo in real conversations. Third; I actually met Janice Dickenson when I was seventeen and she thought I was a girl.”

Lance skipped over the first two points Keith laid out and latched onto the third. “Whoa wait, you met Janice? Like for real?”

Keith shrugged. “Yeah. I didn’t know who she was at first. I was just at some after party for a show I didn’t even walk in. Y’know, mingling…”

“Your favorite activity.”

“Shut up. Anyway, she thought I was a girl, and then when I told her I was a guy she said that I could pull off a strapless dress if I wanted to. She might be the reason I started getting interested in designers who made more androgynous clothes.”

“I whole heartedly agree. With the strapless dress thing.”

“Eh, my shoulders are a bit too broad. I prefer a halter or a Queen Anne kind of neckline.”

“I’m just going to say yes to everything.”

“That doesn’t surprise me at all.”

Nyma quietly cleared her throat. Keith completely forgot that there was another person in their conversation. Well, more like another person hanging out on the edge of their conversation. Judging by the look on Lance’s face, he had forgotten too.

“Sorry.” Lance shifted back and forth on his feet. “We kind of go off on tangents sometimes. Our friends have said it’s literally like were in our own little world.”

“I can see that.” Nyma smiled, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Keith’s eye watched the movement, distracted by the glittering engagement ring on her finger. So that’s why she’s here. “Well I should let you guys go. I see you have a lot of reading to do.”

Nyma eyes tracked up and down the three binders Lance carried.

“Yeah, we better get started.” Lance agreed. “It was nice to see you, Nyma.”

“You too Lance. Oh, and it was nice to meet you Keith.” She nodded in his direction, her simple smile never fading. Nyma turned towards the direction of the office and left while Lance stepped around the flowers to go to the front door.

Keith lingered a moment longer. He watched as a tall young man with dusty blond hair came up behind Nyma and wrapped an arm around her waist. She fell into him naturally, her small hand on his back. For some reason, the sight made Keith smile.

He didn’t really know Nyma. All he knew was her history with Lance and the rest of their friends. Way back in high school where every little moment feels important and ground breaking. There was a time when she fit seamlessly into their group. As comfortable and as snug as Keith did now. But like every young teenager learned, not all friendships were able to survive outside the walls of high school. Not all relationships were meant to last.

Growing up meant change and change lead to bonds being tried, tested and sometime broken. Keith felt proud in saying that he would never stop loving Lance. In turn, Lance had given him the confidence of feeling like Keith would always be loved. It was the first, truly permanent aspect of his life. And if Nyma hadn’t grown up and changed, if she had taken Lance seriously when he came out to her and actually worked on their relationship, then maybe Keith wouldn’t have had any of this. Maybe… maybe Keith wouldn’t have ended up with Lance at all.

_No._

Keith put an end to that train of thought long before it took seed. He’d gone down this road before, thinking of the impossible. Putting too much energy to consider things that had never happened and will never happen. His mind could be a terrible place sometimes if he allowed it. But it was still his mind, his thoughts, his irrational worry bubbling up and trying to take over.

And just like he’d been learning to do for the past few years, Keith glanced at the mounting black blob that was his anxiety and looked at it square in the eye and said: _Oh hey, fuck-face. Can you just like, stand in the corner and be quiet? I’ve got shit to do._

With a quick breath, Keith hurried after Lance. Thinking about what could have been if things were different was pointless. It wasn’t reality after all. This was reality. Lance fumbling to get his keys with his hands full and Keith reaching into his pocket to get them. Keith taking the AUX cord before Lance could and turning on some pop punk from the early 2000’s. Lance groaning as he buckled his seat belt but then quietly singing along to Ocean Avenue as they cruised down the road.

This was their life. This is where Keith never knew he wanted to be until he was smack dab in the middle of it, listening to his fiancé harmonize to the music. This was his reality and Keith couldn’t be happier.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plans are well underway, but Lance hits a few speed bumps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Slight warning with this chapter, there is talk about homophobia. It's nothing major, no slurs or any sort of name calling, no hateful actions or anything like that. I just wanted to give y'all a heads up just in case. 
> 
> Okay onward!

In the back of a quiet coffee shop, housed in a building that used to be a bank, Keith flipped through one of the binders the florist had given them. The coffee shop, simply named The Bean, was nothing short of a godsend. God in that particular situation was a short being named Pidge.

Pidge had found this place years ago and raved about their steady Wi-Fi and free refills on regular tea and coffee. And according to them, after spending a few hours hold up in their shop, the baristas even give out free muffins and bagels.

Keith and Lance went to The Bean sporadically, but often enough that some of the baristas knew them. At first they only knew them as the couple who would come to keep Pidge company, but eventually they were on a first name biases. For Keith, he just liked that fact that there where a place he could go where the people knew his name. And not in the ‘I saw you and Lance McClain on E! one time’ or ‘I have  every single magazine you’ve ever been featured in’ kind of way. This was more personal than that. It made this crazy loud city he lived in feel like home.

(Side note: Lance is the one who has boxes and boxes of magazines that Keith has been featured in. Keith is trying to convince him to just keep ten of his favorites and recycle the rest. So far, Lance has parted with two.)

A plastic cup appeared under his chin as Lance took the seat across from him. Keith swirled the iced inside and took a long sip. The tea was so damn refreshing.

“What did you end up getting?” Keith asked.

Lance was very consistent with his coffee order in the winter. It was a process, involving five syrup pumps too many for Keith’s tastes. He remembered the first time Lance explained it and Keith was sure that half the flavors he said were made up. He gave up trying to memorize it and had Lance write it down instead so that he could show it to whatever barista was tasked in making that sugary monstrosity. Inside Keith’s wallet, a bright pink sticky note took up one of the card slots. Lance’s winter time coffee order was written in bold letters. It had been in Keith’s wallet for five years.

However, when the seasons changed and spring and summer rolled around, Lance was far less insane with his coffee. It was an odd quirk to add to the list that Keith loved.

Lance popped off the dome lid and licked the whipped cream off the top like it was an ice cream cone. “Mocha Frappe.” He said grinned.

“You got a coffee milkshake.” Keith corrected.

“It’s not a milkshake. It’s a _frappe_.”

“Just because it has a fancy name doesn’t change the fact that it’s basically milkshake.”

“This is completely different from a milkshake, how dare you.”

“It’s a cold, blended, sugary drink. Ergo, it’s a coffee milkshake.”

“Nope. You’re forgetting the most important aspect of a proper milkshake. The one thing that definitely, 100%, abso-posiv-lutely makes this here a milkshake.”

Keith narrowed his eyes, both curious and suspicious as to where his fiancé was going with this. “…what?”

Lance, with the most serious face he could muster, said, “Milkshakes bring all the boys to the yard. Do you see any boys in my yard, Keith? Do you? This is not a true milkshake if there are no boys in my yard.”

Keith’s forehead collided with the table. “Oh my fucking god…”

“Well, there is _one_ boy in my yard. And he’s a very cute boy.”

“Lance…” Keith was trying not laugh, he really was. But dammit, Lance was charming as all hell when he wanted to be and right now his cute, faux-serious face was killing Keith. His side actually hurt from how hard he was trying to contain his laughter.

Speak of the devil, Lance tugged on a strand of Keith’s hair to get his attention. “Hey cute boy, did you come over here just because of my coffee milkshake?”

Keith propped his chin up on the table and fixed Lance with a stare. “I was technically here first, you nerd.”

“So it wasn’t the power of the milkshake.”

“No. But I’m glad to see that we’ve officially agreed on the fact that a frappe is basically a coffee milkshake.”

“I concede. Also I’m getting hyper.” Lance’s drink was already halfway gone. Keith snorted.

“Don’t you know how to slow down?”

“You already know the answer to that question.”

As a matter of fact, Keith did already know. The answer was a resounding no.

Taking a moment to sit up and stretch, Keith’s attention was back on the binders in front of him. He pushed his drink to the side and flipped to the pages Aggie had marked.

“Do we have colors?” he asked.

Lance shook his head. “I don’t think so? I mean, nothing on the table it really going to match. All the place settings, the napkins, they’re all different colors.”

“So then the first thing we need to do is decided on some colors we want for the flowers.” Instead of jumping in and rattling off suggestions, Lance stayed quiet and took another sip of his drink. Keith went on. “I like the idea of everything kind of mismatching. But if we mix to many colors it’ll just look like a melted box of crayons.”

Lance smirked but didn’t say anything. This sudden silence made Keith sigh.

For all he tried to hide it, Lance wasn’t as care free as people might think. He had his insecurities, his doubts and own worries that sometimes consumed him. Most of the time, Lance would let these feelings fester until he began to see himself in a negative light. They were a lot alike in that aspect. Blaming themselves for things that they shouldn’t.

Unlike Keith, Lance’s face was an open book. In quiet moments when he wasn’t smiling or talking, Keith could read that handsome face perfectly. And right now, it was clear that there was something on his mind.

“Okay. What’s up?” He asked bluntly.

“Huh? Nothings up. Just listening.”

Keith raised his brow, his eyes conveying the word ‘bullshit’ perfectly. With a huff of laughter, Lance pushed his drink aside.

“I just… I just want to make sure you’re okay with all this.” He gestured to the photos clipped into the binder. The vibrant pictures captured the bouquets beautifully. Lance looked up at Keith through dark lashes.

“Uh, okay with what?”

“With all this wedding stuff. The _traditional_ wedding stuff.” Lance mumbled.

Keith felt a little relieved that this was what Lance was worried about. This he could deal with easily. “You don’t have anything to worry about.”

“Are you sure? ‘Cuz like, I don’t want you feeling overwhelmed with all this stuff. We can wait a while if you want? I mean, the only reason I suggested May was because well, because how cool would it be to get married on May 4th? Y’know, Star Wars day? ‘May the fourth be with you’? But if you want more time or like, if you want something a little more low-key, it’s totally cool—“

“I want to marry you, Lance.” Keith grinned at the rapid blush dusting his fiancé’s cheeks. “I want to marry you. I don’t really care when or where. If we do it tomorrow at the courthouse or if it happens next year in the middle of Central Park or something. Yeah, I personally prefer something less flashy, but I know you. You like big statements, big moments. But you’re also stupidly considerate. So thanks, for passing on the grand white wedding and going for something simple at Allura’s instead. Thanks for not pushing for a huge party with hundreds of people. Thanks for, well, thanks for being you.”

Keith was pretty amazed that all of this was coming out so coherently. Usually, when it came to things like this, he had a tendency to trip over his words. But this was something he had been meaning to say for days now and he was relieved that it was coming across so clearly. Because this… this was important.

“If getting flowers for our wedding makes you happy, then you get bet your ass we’re getting flowers.” Keith concluded.

Across the table, Lance’s expression had morphed from surprised to the dopiest, most love sick looking grin Keith had ever seen. He felt a familiar flutter in his chest as Lance continued to look at him with those beautiful blue eyes. Keith huffed and took a sip of his drink just to have something to do. If he stayed still any longer, he might just melt into a puddle on the floor.

“Have I told you lately that I love you?” Lance propped his elbows up on the table, his chin perched on his hands.

“Not recently.”

“Well I do. I love you. Even though you’ve had the same haircut for a decade and you have the worst possible morning breath I have ever encountered.”

“Well then don’t kiss me in the morning and you won’t have to deal with my shitty morning breath.”

“Aww but what’s the point of sleeping in the same bed if I can’t kiss you first thing in the morning?”

Keith tried very hard to contain his blush, but dammit Lance just knew what to say to make Keith feel like a smitten teenager. He covered his burning face with his hands and groaned.

“I hate you.”

“I love you too, dude.” Lance replied.

“Stop calling me ‘dude’.”

“You got it, sugar lips.”

“Ugh.”

Lance pulled the open binder closer and studied the pages. “Thanks, by the way. For saying all that. I guess I just, needed to be sure.”

Instead of saying anything, Keith nudged Lance’s foot with his own. Lance grinned, the message coming in loud and clear.

“Okay.” Lance turned the book over to Keith. “I think one of our colors should be purple and, I want a bouquet.”

“Yes and why?”

“I just really don’t not want to miss out on the tradition of throwing a flower grenade into a crowd of desperate youths.”

Surprisingly, his reason made a lot of sense. Keith was already kind of leaning towards the idea before his fiancé said anything. There was something very beautiful about the arrangements he had seen and Keith liked the idea of them.

“Alright. But if you get a bouquet, I want one too.”

“I bet I can throw might farther than you.” Lance smirked.

“You wish, McClain.”

“Bring it on, Kogane.”

* * *

 

With nineteen days left before the wedding, Lance hit a small snag. He paced the around his office/studio, listing to the argument his sister was eavesdropping on. His youngest sister, Beni was home from school and was currently hiding in the pantry of their childhood home and holding up her phone for her brother to listen.

Their mother was in the kitchen and by the sound of it she was brutally chopping something while she continued to argue with someone. That someone was their uncle, Tony, who just popped up out of the blue and wanted to come to the wedding.

That would be perfectly fine if it were just Tony, but of course, things had to be more complicated.

“Aleja would you just, just hear me out, okay?” his uncle’s voice sounded strange through the phone. It was muffled by both the pantry door and distance from wherever he was in the kitchen.

“I have heard you out, and I am saying no.” his mother’s tone made Lance flinch. She sounded clipped, harsh, and so angry. It almost hurt to hear.

“He is my nephew. I deserve to be at the wedding.”

“You haven’t even seen him in 9 years. Not since he graduated high school.”

There was a loud, tired sigh. “I know… but I’m trying here, Aleja. I’m trying to fix things with my family. _All_ of my family.”

“That’s very good of you, little brother, but this isn’t the place to do it.” There was the sound of food hitting a pan. It sizzled and hissed as it was swirled around in the hot oil. Absently, Lance wondered what his mother was cooking.

“Aleja—“

“No. You know how Cara was raised. You know what she’d been teaching those boys. I don’t want to look around as my son is saying his vows and see her _sneering_.”

And that was the problem. The big headache that Lance was hoping to avoid. Honestly when he ran in to Nyma the other day, he thought that was the going to be the big drama leading up to his wedding. That the universe was trying to shake him up by throwing his ex at him and watch him stumble. But no, seeing Nyma wasn’t as dramatic as it could have been. On the contrary, it was pretty normal, maybe even nice. It had been a long time since he had seen her and it seemed that she might have changed in that time. She was definitely nicer this time around.

Apparently Nyma was just a diversion to make him think that the month before his wedding was going to be smooth sailing. Now it was clear that he was wrong.

Uncle Tony was a nice guy, his mom’s only sibling, but he hit a rough patch a while back and ended up divorcing from his wife. His wife, Cara, was very different from the rest of their family. She was much more conservative and a little bit overzealous when it came to sharing her opinions. Lance still remembers the way his stomach twisted when she went on and on about same sex marriage and how it ‘wasn’t right’. Lance had just built up the courage to come out to his siblings, and then she began spouting all this hate at a family gathering. Theo looked ready to throttle her by the end of the night.

When Tony and Cara split, their two sons stayed with their mother. Lance had met them of course, but there was no telling what spending all those years alone with their conservative mother would do. They could have turned out just as close minded.

Having that negative attitude at his wedding? The thought alone made Lance want to hurl.

“Look, I’ll talk to Cara, okay?” Tony assured his sister. “I’ll make sure that she is respectful just… I just really want to try and make this work.”

For a while, only the sizzle of the frying pan could be heard. Lance clutched his phone, waited with bated breath for his mother’s response.

It came much later then he expected, almost drowned out by noise from the stove. “I know you are trying, Tony.”

“Then—“

“Then yes, you all can come. But before Cara sets foot in that house, I will talk to her.”

Lance actually gasped and he was pretty sure he heard Beni do the same. Aleja McClain-Suarez, though a kind and wonderful woman, could be a deadly tidal wave of words when she wanted to be. She was short, but not lacking presence in any sense and defended her kin to the best of her power. If she was going to have a serious talk with her former sister-in-law, it was going to be an epic event.

Thankfully, Uncle Tony didn’t argue. “That’s fine! That’s, actually coming from you she might listen more. We’re- uh… we’re still working through a lot.”

“I know, hermanito. Lo sé. But remember, the moment I see something I don’t like, she is getting tossed to the curb.”

“I know, I know. But I promise, you won’t have to worry.”

“Good.”

The conversation tapered off from there. Whatever his mother was cooking was done quickly and Aleja and Tony left the kitchen soon after. Once it was all clear, Beni took her phone off of speaker.

“Holy shit, big brother. That was like, right out of telenovela.”

“You’re telling me.” Lance sat on the floor, stretching his legs out in front of him.

“So… are you going to tell Keith?”

“About the conservative asshole showing up to our very gay wedding? I kind of think I have to, sis.”

“Well, Mom did say she would talk to her.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think Aunt Cara had the same fear of Mamá as we do.”

“Good point.”

Lance fell back onto the plush carpet. He turned his head to the side and reached for the guitar off to his right. Moments before Beni called him, he was going to finish up work on Keith’s wedding present. Now all his inspiration had left.

“I think it’ll turn out okay.” Beni’s sweet voice sounded reassuring.

“You’re young. You still are optimistic about the world.”

“Wow, someone’s being a little pessimist today.”

“Eh, it comes and goes in wave after you’ve hit twenty-two. You’ll find out soon enough, my sweet summer child.”

“You’re so weird, Lance. Why did Keith even agree to marry you?” she teased lightly.

“You got me. Still slightly convinced that the past few years have been a dream.”

Beni giggled.

Lance hung up a few minutes later after catching up with his youngest sister. Beni was honestly the sweetest person he ever met (including Hunk) and he loved hearing her tell stories. A simple walk down the street for her turned out to be a magical adventure exploring the urban terrain the called home. Lance was convinced that she was some sort of fairy from Neverland, reborn to be his littlest sister. All of his other siblings agreed.

Even with her optimism and the ultimatum from their mother regarding Cara, Lance was still worried. He read somewhere that every wedding has a wild card. A person that had the power to ruin some aspect of the wedding in one fell swoop. Lance was hoping that since their wedding was going to be so small, that they wouldn’t be cursed with that. But the martial gods saw it differently and choose to give them a closeminded woman and her two son’s as a gift for their wedding day. What a bunch of bullshit.

Lance rolled on to his stomach. Things probably weren’t as bad as they seemed. This was just another opportunity for him to overreact. He needed Keith. Or Shiro. Or anyone really to tell him thing were going to be alright.

Just then, his phone buzzed.

Keith <3: _Breaking news. Allura hasn’t had a chance to fix her roots._

Keith <3: _I’ve known her for 8 years and this is the first time I’ve seen her natural hair color._

Keith <3: _It’s brown btw._

Lance’s mood switched drastically.

Lance: _WAHT._

Lance: _I MISSSPEELED THAT AND DON EVEN CAER._

Keith <3: _You’re misspelling a lot of things actually._

Lance: _SHUSH. THIS IS A HISTORY EVENT._

Keith <3: _*historic_

Lance: _SHUT IT._

Lance: _Omg. Omfgggg this is crazy._

Lance: _Like I was legitmently convinced that her hair was naturally that color._

Keith <3: _*legitimately_

Lance: _ugh you’re the worst._

Lance: _also pics or it didn’t happen._

Keith <3: _I knew you would say that._

The next message had an attachment.  Allura was hiding behind her daughter, Ariana, but not very well. Momentarily distracted by the child, Lance refocused and saw that Keith was telling the truth. A small line of light brown hair stood out amongst the silver locks. Lance outright giggled.

Lance: _My platinum goddess… turns out she’s a plebe just like the rest of us._

Keith <3: _I am so telling her you said that._

Lance: _Please do._

Keith <3: _Anyways, I’ll be home soon._

Lance: _K!_

Lance: _See ya soon!_

Lance: _Luv you!_

Keith <3: _Love you too._

His creativity restored by the brief conversation, Lance set back to work on his wedding gift. As it had become a habit the past six years, Lance was writing a song for his future husband. One day he was sure to have a whole album about songs dedicate to Keith.

_Say the Word_ , the first song he wrote for Keith, never actually made it onto any of their albums. They did play it a few times at shows, but it was a rare event. So much so that the fans went absolute bat shit whenever they decided to play it. There was a whole hash tag dedicated to the song and Lance thought it was hilarious. 

Lance perked up when he heard the door to their apartment open. Keith had been with Allura for the past few hours, but Lance honestly didn’t know why. Keith didn’t reveal anything, only saying that Lance would find out when he got back.

With the energy of a puppy, Lance bounded to the living room. Keith almost immediately rolled his eyes when he saw Lance coming but opened his arms up for a hug anyway.

Lance pecked him on the cheek when they pulled apart. He glanced at the black beanie Keith wore, wondering if he left the house with it. “Hi.”

“Hey.”

“I’m thinking about printing out that picture of Allura and sending out as their Christmas card. Thoughts?”

“Allura would actually kill you.”

“Nah, she loves me. Nobody can resist this charm.”

Keith flicked him on the forehead as a response.

“Ariana drew you this.” He pulled a folded piece of paper out of his back pocket and handed it to Lance. The young man’s eye grew to the size of saucers.

“IS THIS A LION?”

“How can you tell? It’s blue?” Keith looked one part confused and one part impressed.

“I am a curator of crayon scribbles and I know a lion when I see one. Holy shit, my niece is going to be an artist.”

“She’s two, Lance.”

“She’s a prodigy.”

“Whatever you say, nerd.”

Keith crossed to the room to the couch, setting his wallet and his phone down on the coffee table as he passed. Sitting down, Lance noticed that Keith was tugging on his beanie. Lance quickly put the work of art on the fridge next to Ariana’s other crayon drawing and joined his fiancé on the couch.

“So what did you do at Allura’s today? Other than discover the next Picasso.”

Keith chuckled, his storm colored eyes looking down. “Well I kind of had an idea that only Allura could help me with.”

“Okay…?” Lance was genuinely curious now. What was Keith up to?

Without saying anything else, Keith pulled off his hat.

“ _Oh dios mío_.” Lance’s face was hot enough to cook an egg on his forehead. Keith… Keith had done the impossible. He’d cut off his mullet. Judging by the smug look on his face, he got the exact reaction he wanted.

“You’re looking a little red there, McClain. You alright?”

Lance couldn’t even think of a response. All he wanted to do was _touch_. Keith’s bangs were still kind of long, the tips just hovering over his eyes. The back of his hair was short, shorter then Lance had ever seen. Lance ran his threaded his fingers through hair on the back of Keith’s head, mesmerized by how soft it was.

“… your hair.” Lance mumbled.

“Yes, my hair.” Keith’s eyes were filled with mirth.

“You know your hair?”

“Yes. Very well actually. I’ve had it all my life.”

“Your hair is short.”

“Yep.”

“You cut your hair.”

“Yeah.”

“…”

“Lance. Did I break you?” Keith cupped Lance’s face, a ting of worry pulling at the corner of his eye.

Lance focused on Keith’s face, feeling his heart flutter in his chest as he took in the full view of his fiancé with a fantastic haircut.

“I… I need… I need a moment. Holy shit… you are too cute.” Lance let his head fall forward, landing on Keith’s shoulder.

Keith laughed at that, full and bright as he gently patted Lance on the back. “I guess that means you like it. The other day when you said I hadn’t changed my hair in a decade, I realized that it was time. Apparently Allura had been waiting for the chance to cut my hair.”

“We should have a Viking funeral for your mullet.” Lance spoke into Keith’s shoulder, refusing to move for the time being.

“We are not setting my hair on fire.”

“Or we could sell it on EBay. We could give the money to a charity.”

“I don’t think anyone would want to by my hair, Lance. That’s a little creepy.”

“Have you seen the shit that sells on EBay?”

“No?”

“Well you should look sometimes. It’s both enlightening and terrifying.”

Keith chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Over time, Keith fell back on the couch with Lance following him. The two remained wrapped around one another for what felt like hours. Lance couldn’t stop running his fingers through Keith’s hair. In the back of his mind, he always wondered what his beautiful boy would look like with short hair but never had the courage to actually ask. It would be kind of weird to ask your then boyfriend to cut his hair just to sate your curiosity.

Lance also had a secret love for Keith’s long hair. Sure he made fun of it from time to time; after all, there is no one else on the planet that has a naturally growing mullet. Lance loved to braid his hair and tie it up and just mess with it in general.

But now he could run his fingers through it all the time without getting caught in tangles. Now he could sneak up behind Keith and kiss the back of his neck. Oh yeah, this was going to be good.

“You look like a movie star.” Lance mumbled. His face was still sort of buried in Keith’s shoulder.

“Thanks, I guess.”

“Maybe I need a change. Hey, what if I grow a beard?”

“You can’t grow a beard.” Keith replied immediately.

“I can if I try.”

“You tried once. And Pidge couldn’t be in the same room with you because they were laughing so much they actually couldn’t breathe.”

Lance grumbled. “Mean little gremlin…”

Keith patted Lance’s arm as a sign that he wanted up. Begrudgingly, Lance sat up and untangled himself from his fiancé. Keith strode over to the kitchen and hovered outside the open fridge.

“So what did you do today?” he asked.

Lance sighed and grabbed a pillow. He hugged it close to his chest. “Beni called. There was some… family drama.”

The phrase didn’t really feel like it fit the conversation he overheard. Sensing that something was amiss, Keith closed the refrigerator. He walked around the kitchen island and hopped up, sitting cross-legged on the counter. Lance couldn’t help but grin. Chairs and counters were interchangeable in the mind of Keith Kogane.

Holding onto his pillow, Lance told Keith about the conversation he overheard. He explained the wild card that was his Aunt Cara and his two cousins that he hadn’t seen in years.

Lance had been lucky in life. He didn’t really have experience dealing with bigotry and close minded people. For the most part, the people he had come across had been kind and respectful of his sexuality. There was confusion here and there, but overall things had been good.

Keith didn’t have that. Keith has seen hate and been on the receiving end of some awful words. Just by looking at him, no one would have guessed. But Keith has been hurt and Lance didn’t want to put him in a situation where that could happen again.

“My mom said she would talk to Cara, make sure she’d stay in line. Honestly I’m kind of surprised she hasn’t called to tell me this herself. She’s probably worried how we’ll take it.” Lance set the pillow down on his lap and began smoothing out the surface. “I’m sure she’ll talk to Tony again if we say no. I mean, it is our wedding after all. She doesn’t mind being the bad guy in situations like this.”

It was quiet for a while after this. Lance wasn’t really sure how much more he should say. He wasn’t even really sure what he wanted in this situation. He still hadn’t taken the time to sort through his own feelings.

Keith looked like an angel with his short hair, perched on the counter top. His gaze was tilted to the floor, his bottom lip jutting out in a tiny pout as he organized his thoughts. Lance felt his heart stutter when that stormy gaze flickered up to him. Keith’s eyes were just as wild and beautiful as they were the first time they met and in quiet moments like this, Lance feel victim to their power. 

_God… I love him so damn much._

“What do you want?” Keith asked simply.

_You._ _Forever._ Lance thought. He cleared his throat and spoke. “Honestly, I don’t really know.”

“Well, do you want your uncle to be there?”

Lance sat back and hugged his pillow. “Yeah? I mean, I think I do? I don’t know, hon, it’s been a really long time since I even talked to the guy.”

“But do you want to? Talk to him, I mean.”

“I…” Lance thought back to the last time he saw his uncle, back when he was just a teenager. It was his high school graduation party and his caul-de-sac was booming. Like all big events his family held, it was loud and vibrant, with so much food they could feed the entire neighborhood. Hunk and Pidge’s family was there. Shiro was off at boot camp but promised to Skype them later. Lance’s whole family was there, including his uncle.

Lance was 18 at the time, so it wasn’t like he didn’t know what happened. It wasn’t like he was a toddler being told that his favorite uncle was going on a vacation for a while. Tony had screwed up and took off after Aleja confronted him. Lance knew what happened. He wasn’t naïve.

“I… I think I do want him there. But I don’t know if that’s because I’m thinking he’s still the guy I knew when I was a kid or if I just feel like helping him out as he tries to get his life back together. Either way, it sounds kind of stupid.”

“It’s not stupid, nerd.” Keith sighed.

“While I have accepted the fact that ‘nerd’ is a term of endearment for you, it doesn’t really help my make me feel better in this situation, love.”

“Sorry.” Keith hopped off the counter and settled on the couch next to Lance. Keith was quiet for a few minutes, opening his mouth a few times to start speaking before shutting it again.

“You look like a fish.” Lance spoke without really thinking. Keith rolled his eyes and sighed.

“I’m trying to help you, so be quiet.”

“Fishy, fishy…”

“Lance.”

“Sorry.”

A grin settled on Keith’s lips. He took Lance’s hand and weaved their fingers together. “It’s not stupid. The things you said. That’s just who you are. Family’s really important to you.”

Lance nodded absently. His eyes were focused on their joined hands.

“Honestly, I have no problem with your aunt coming. Your mom is one hell of a tough woman and I know for a fact that she won’t let one stupid person mess up our wedding.”

“You… you make a very good point, Kogane.”

“Thanks.”

“So, you’re good? With all this family drama?” Lance asked again just to clarify.

Keith shrugged. “It this is all the drama your family has to offer, then yes. This is much easier than some of the shit I’ve dealt with.”

“Really? Like what?”

“Lance, I spent the better part of a year living with a bunch of up and coming models. You cannot believe some of the shit I have witnessed.”

“Are we talking like, Top Model level drama?”

“Worse. The real thing is much, much worse.”

Lance turned, his full attention on his fiance. “Tell me everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's pretty much all the angst. Strange for me, i know, but i didn't feel like causing too much strife for these two. Now we're just going to have some typical wedding drama and some fluffy fluff. Also, i have no idea how long this is going to be. 
> 
> :D
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> ****Update 3.20.18****  
> hi. this is going to go on a little hiatus. I do plan on finishing this story, but have kind of lost inspiration at the moment. (and then i started a whole new fic like a dumbass and am now obbsessed with it lol)
> 
> I will finish! but very...very slowly.   
> Sorry for anyone reading!!!! Hope you all have a nice day!!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Photographers and cake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sooooooooooooooo it's been awhile, huh?
> 
> pardon any mistakes. I wrote this pretty quick. 
> 
> also sorry if it feels different from the other chapters/rest of Say the Word. My style seemed to have changed a bit in all that time lol.

Keith took stock of his camera, carefully cleaning the lens with a soft cloth. He’d had the camera for over a year but still treated it like it was a priceless heirloom. Cradling it with careful hands, cleaning it every week, it was his second most favorite possession, right behind his bike. Photography was something he’d been around for years and until recently, he didn’t think he ever take the dive and learn more about it. But work had been a little less crazy over the past few years and Keith had the opportunity to take on new challenges.  After a crash course in fashion photography from a few friends, Keith had caught the bug.

Owning his own quality camera was a milestone. After modeling for a decade, it was invigorating to try out knew things. Keith had shopped around for ages, bugging Lance at every hour of the day and showing him different equipment he found online. Keith treasured the damn thing like it was coated in gold and hardly let anyone use it. And he was trusting Matt with it on his wedding day.

Matthew Holt.

The same Matthew Holt who was banned from a local Walmart when he was fourteen for accidently sending a lawnmower crashing into a DVD display. Twice.

Matt Holt who, even though he is incredibly smart and talented, did realized that narwhals were real animals and wholly believed that they were they were the ocean version of a unicorn.

Matt, who was fully prepared to take pictures of Lance and Keith’s wedding using a combination of disposable cameras and various people’s cell phones.

Keith was starting to wonder why they decided to let Matt take the photos. Honestly, Keith knew enough photographers that would be more than willing to help them out. He knew seven alone that lived in the area and would do it for free. But of course he was hanging out with Shiro the day Pidge and Matt asked Lance about it. And of course, being the sweet person that he was, Lance said yes.

So really, all of this could be blamed on Lance.

But Keith shared some of that blame. When he heard that Matt was planning traveling to all the drug stores in town and buying all their disposable cameras, Keith actually tracked him down and whacked the items out of his hands before he could buy any. And then he foolishly muttered that Matt could use his camera for the night.

Really, Keith just didn’t want his wedding pictures to look over exposed and out of focus. It was a good idea, but Keith was still worried.

Keith set down the lens he was cleaning a sighed. He’d spent a good hour meticulously going over his camera and memorizing every inch of it. It Matt fucked up even the smallest part of his camera, Keith would know.

With slow motions, Keith securely packed his camera back in its bag.

He pulled out his phone and texted Lance.

Keith: _I swear, if Matt breaks my camera, you are getting me a new one._

A few minutes later, he got a response.

My Nerd: _If he breaks it, I will buy you two cameras._

My Nerd: _One for you and another to use as a decoy in case Matt gets attached._

Keith: _Why not just get Matt his own camera then?_

My Nerd: _Because then I‘d have to buy him a gift instead of showering you with two gifts._

Keith: _Solid logic._

My Nerd: _I know :D_

My Nerd: _Isn’t he coming over today?_

Keith: _yeah_

Keith: _Hence, my worry._

My Nerd: _Ah._

My Nerd: _That makes sense._

My Nerd: _Please don’t kill Matt if he breaks your camera._

Keith: _I would never._

Keith: _Because then I’d have to deal with Pidge._

Keith: _They’d probably send a hit man after my ass._

My Nerd: _Truuuueee._

My Nerd: _Pidge would totally be the one with underground connections._

My Nerd: _Also I would totally cry if someone ruined your perfect butt._

Keith: _What, you don’t care about the rest of me??_

My Nerd:   _Nah, not really._

My Nerd: _( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_

Keith: _Unbelievable._

Keith: _I call for a divorce._

My Nerd: _Were not even married yet, babe._

Keith: _A pre-divorce._

My Nerd: _I don’t think that’s a thing._

Keith: _I’m making it a thing._

My Nerd: _Whatever you say, love._

Moments later, there was a knock on the door. Keith sent a quick message to Lance and then went to let in his guest.

“Hey, Keith.” Matt grinned, waving a little.

“Matthew.” Keith stood as tall as he could, aiming to look a little intimidating. Matt didn’t seem phased.

“Okay, before you get all scary and angry lioness on me, Pidge already gave me the run down. I break your camera, you break me.”

“Good. Also, why lioness? Why not a lion?”

“Lionesses are the hunters and more aggressive. Lions’ just lay around all day and eat.”

Keith smirked. “Lance is the lion. I’m going to tell him that and he’ll think it’s a complement.”

Matt snorted.

Keith finally stepped aside and let Matt inside. The two sat at the kitchen table while Keith went over every little aspect of his precious camera. Thankfully, Matt seemed to be taking his photographer role seriously and held the device with two hands, asking for questions and clarification when needed. While he may not have had the most artistic eye, he could get the technical stuff down easy.

After a while, Matt wandered around the living room. Testing out the different settings and figuring out how to focus properly and work with different lighting. It made Keith feel comfortable that he was taking his appointed role so seriously.

“So how many days left?” Matt asked. He was currently lying on his stomach, taking pictures of the bookshelf and all if its knick-knacks.

“Sixteen.” Keith replied.

“Damn. You nervous?”

“Not really. I mean, not much is going to change. We’ll just be married.”

“True, true. You guys have practically been married for years now anyway. I mean, you even have a join checking account.”

“How do you know about that?” Keith asked.

Matt shrugged. “Lance got really excited about it and texted everyone.”

“He gets excited over the littlest things.”

“That’s a good think though, right? I mean, you’ll never have a boring day, that’s for sure.”

Keith chuckled. “You got me there.”

“Nice hair cut by the way.”

“Thanks.”

Matt was probably one of the easiest people to get along with. He was smart, didn’t press for conversation all the time, and also was hilariously always in the wrong place at the wrong time. It made for some pretty amusing stories.

After practicing for the better part of an hour, Keith looked over the pictures Matt took and gave him a nod of approval. If Matt continued to handle Keith’s camera like it was the most valuable thing in the entire world, then everything should be a-okay.

“I have earned your blessing!” Matt bowed at the waist while Keith rolled his eyes. “Low-key thought you were going to fire me before I even walked in. Actually Pidge was betting money on it.”

“How much?”

“Fifty bucks. And now their money is mine.”

“Glad I could help you win a bet.” Keith packed away his camera, handing it over. “There’s two extra memory cards in the side pocket. Lance wanted more, but he also wants pictures for every second of the wedding. I told him that wasn’t possible unless he wanted you to go without eating.”

“Thanks for the save.” Matt grinned. He took the camera from Keith and checked that all the zippers were closed before slinging it over his shoulder. “Well, I’m off. I got to go collect from Pidge. Let me know if you need anything else, Keith.”

“Will do. Thanks again, Matt.”

“No prob. See ya!”

“Later.” Keith closed the door, grinning. All thoughts of Matt fucking up his wedding photos flew out the window. Keith sank onto the couch, running his finger through his short hair.

He didn’t realized how attached he was to the long strands until Allura was sweeping up the remains into a dust pan. Honestly he probably was going let it grow out even longer than before. Something about overcorrecting floated through his head.

A few moments later, Keith’s phone rang from its spot on the kitchen counter. Stretching when he stood, Keith answered it without looking at the screen. He was expecting a call from Allura anyway.

“Hello?”

There was silence for a few long seconds. Keith pulled back the phone and glanced at the screen. It wasn’t a number he recognized. Frowning, Keith tired again.

“If you’re trying to get me to sign a petition or buy something, you’re wasting your time—“

“Is this Keith Kogane?” the voice on the other end of the receiver was a women. It was hard to tell over the phone, but she sounded like she was breathless. Like she was walking on a tightrope, the anticipation of getting to the other side stealing her breath away.

Keith hesitated and checked the number again. The area code wasn’t from this state. “Yes, this is Keith. Can I ask who’s calling?”

“My name is Krolia. I…” her voice trailed off, egging on Keith’s growing confusion.

“Um, is there something you needed or…?”

“Keith. I am your mother.”

Keith hung up the phone.

* * *

 

Lance had a hop in his step as he made his way to Shay’s bakery. His guitar bounced on his back with each step, creating a beat for him to hum too. In his head, one of the songs he’d written for Keith was playing in his head.

 

_It seems like I can do no wrong for your eyes_

_Sing the wrong lines to my own song, you don't mind_

_Make it up as we go_

_All the words we don't know_

_Even when I'm a drunken mess, you don't care_

_Still like me better than the rest_

_I swear, I don't understand it_

_How you like me when I'm dancing (Hey!)_

 

_Those eyes, damn, those eyes, they get me every time_

_Those eyes, in those eyes, I can do no crime_

_When I dance like I don't care, you call me Fred Astaire_

It was one of the few that made it on to an album. Fans knew right away who it was written for and gushed every time it was played. It was the number one track off that album.

He was definitely playing it at the wedding. Because of course, Voltron would be playing at the wedding. Not the whole time, because that would be lame, but Lance wanted to play a few songs at least. Since it was Pidge’s job to handle the music, they were also in charge of setting up a small stage in Shiro’s backyard. They already had the plans drawn out and everything.

Shay’s bakery was closed for the day, but the young women in question was still inside waiting for him. Lance knocked on the door and waved. Shay grinned, unlocking the door and letting him in.

“Hello Lance. It is very good to see you.”

“You too. Where’s my best man?”

“In the back. Hunk has been working all day. I had to remind him to eat.” Shay stepped behind the counter, Lance following at her heels. He rich dark skin had a few puffs of flour coating it and her hair was pulled back with an assortment of colorful clips.

The back of the bakery was a wide kitchen where all the delectable treats Hunk and Shay sold were made. In the mess of flour and sweet scent of sugar, Hunk was piping a delicate pattern on a cake. Lance was always fascinating with watching Hunk decorate his creations. Hunk’s hands were large and dotted with calluses from years and years of playing the bass. But all that changed when he was baking. Suddenly those hands were delicate and soft, creating beauty from chocolate and icing.

It was so fun to watch.

Lance and Shay waited until Hunk finished, not want to startle him. (Lance had learned that the hard way when Pidge dropped one of their text books on the floor while Hunk was filling eclairs. Cream flew out of the pastry and Lance got a face full, much to Pidge’s delight.)

Hunk finally noticed them. “Uh, how long have you been there?”

“Long enough to appreciate your decorating skills, my man.” Lance leaned his guitar case against the wall and hurried over to the counter. “Is that going to be my wedding cake?” he asked, giddy.

Hunk smiled. “Well, if you like it, yeah. But I made few other samples for you to try.”

“…how many is a few?”

“Twelve? Oh wait no, thirteen.”

Lance looked up at his friend. “I should have expected this.”

“Yes, you should have.” Shay giggled. “Now, shall we get started?”

Hunk and Shay quickly cleared the counters. Moving almost like they were dancing, the two of them began displaying all the mini cakes Hunk had made for Lance and Keith’s wedding. They were samples of all different shapes and sizes, colors and flavors. Like most aspects of their wedding, Keith and Lance let their friends run wild with ideas. Hence thirteen mini cakes for them to try.

“Oh! I forgot about this one.” Hunk exclaimed.

“…and now that makes fourteen.” Lance sighed. He couldn’t help but laugh a bit as well.

Lance took pictures of each cake, sending them to Keith. Keith (by some show of clairvoyance) somehow guessed that Hunk was going to go a little overboard and told Lance to bring him his top five choices and they would go from there.

A solid plan, all things considered. Only one problem thought. Lance had little to no impulse control when it came to sweets. While his rational side knew he was supposed to be sampling all the cakes, Lance devoured the first two little cakes without leaving a crumb.

“I think— I think I’m in _love_.” Lance licked his fork, chasing any remaining flavor still left or the utensil. “Hunk. My wonderful, beautiful, kind Hunk. Will you marry me and make me cake every day for the rest of our lives?”

“You know I love you buddy, but I’m pretty sure Keith wouldn’t like it if you married another guy. That and I kind of feel like you would just be using me for my baking skills.” Hunk cleared away Lance’s plate and began cutting another small slice from yet another cake. “Also, you’d get on Shay’s bad side. And trust me, you do not want to be on her bad side.”

Lance glanced around Hunk’s wide shoulders to where Shat was currently washing dishes behind them. The knife she was cleaning seemed to gleam in the light, almost like it was winking at him.

Yeah, he did not want to mess with Shay.

Lance took his time with the next few cakes, physically stopping his fork before he could scoop up another bite. While the first two cakes were gone, Lance had managed to try the rest of them and leave enough to bring home to Keith.

Speaking of Keith, Lane hadn’t heard from him in a while.

Scrolling through his messages, Lance noticed that Keith hadn’t responded to a single cake picture, and it had been well over two hours. That…that wasn’t like him.

While Hunk was wrapping up a few to-go boxes, Lance’s phone rang.

“Hey Allura, what’s up?”

“Hello, Lance.” Allura’s greeting was followed by incoherent babbling from Ariana. “Have you spoken to Keith recently? We were supposed go over suits today, but I haven’t heard from him. I tried calling a few times, but no answer.”

Lance tapped his foot on the tile floor. “Really? Huh, well maybe he took a nap or something. He’s been kind of tired recently.”

“I can imagine. It’s a stressful time for both of you.”

“Tell me about it.” Lance kept his tone light, but worry was building in his gut.

“Well, when you see him, just tell him that I’m free this weekend as well. We can go shopping then.”

“Sounds good ‘lura. Talk to you later.”

“Bye, Lance!”

Hunk had finished wrapping up the to-go boxes by the time Lance had hung up. With another round of thank-you’s, Lance hurried out the door. His and Keith apartment was only about a ten minute walk away, but now Lance was regretting not bringing his car. He had to get home fast.

Maybe it was because they had been in a relationship for so long or maybe Lance just had psychic powers. Whatever the reason, Lance could tell that something was wrong with Keith. It wasn’t like his fiancé to go completely silent like this and especially not for this long. If Keith wasn’t answering his phone, that meant he was ignoring it which was not something he usually did.

Keith’s entire career hinged on the right phone call at the right time. Lance could remember Keith telling him the story of his first big break. Keith had camped out at his foster parents phone for hours waiting to hear the news. It was a habit that solidified over the years until it became fact. Keith could lose out on something incredible if he was careless with his phone. So why was he completely ignoring it now?

Lance practically ran into his apartment building, jamming the elevator button repeatedly. The ride felt like it took years, and Lance was bouncing on his feet while it steadily climbed to his floor. He was out like a bullet when the elevator finally stopped.

“Keith?” Lance was still wrestling the keys out of the door when he called his fiancé’s name. The apartment looked exactly the same from when he left that morning. An empty mug sat on the kitchen counter and the book Keith was reading was sitting next to it.

Lance set his guitar down, quickly storing the cakes in fridge. A light breeze blew across his face. The window that led to the fire escape was open. He knew where Keith went.

The climb to the roof was something Lance found himself doing often. Keith seemed to crave the sky like a fish craved water. Night or day, cloudy or sunny, Keith seemed to find some sort peace when sitting under the open sky. More than once, Lance lamented the fact that they lived in a big city. City smog was killer and Keith deserved a clear sky.

One day, they’d move away from the city center. Then he and Keith could gaze at a star filled sky every night.

The breeze picked up once Lance made it to the roof. His brown hair curled around his face, and not for the first time, Lance realized that his hair was getting pretty shaggy. Soon he’d have the mullet.

Lance didn’t need to look for Keith up here. He already knew exactly where he was. Lance rounded the abandoned greenhouse some past resident left and found who he was looking for.

Keith was sitting on a folding chair, his eyes distant and heel tapping against the ground. His phone was clutched in both hands, sitting on his lap.

“Hey,” Lance felt like his voice was louder than a siren. Even with the wind around them, his voice cut through the tense quiet.

Keith’s foot tapped faster. “Hey.”

“Are you okay?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Okay.” Lance bit his lip, wondering what would be the best way to proceed. He’d learned over the years that it was good to push Keith into talking, that would only make his anxiety worse. It was best to just wait.

Lance glanced around and found another folding chair. He popped it open and sat as close as he could to his fiancé. Their knees bumped together.

The young couple sat together in silence until the sky was painted in pinks and oranges.

“…I got a call today.” Keith said quietly. His stormy eyes didn’t leave the sunset happening before them.

“Yeah? What was it about?” Lance asked gently.

“It was…weird. And completely out of the blue and— and at first I didn’t think it could be real. I mean, I’ve always known where I come from was kind of a mystery, but that didn’t really bother me, y’know? I mean, it did but that was when I just a kid. I grew out feeling like that a long time ago.”

Keith was rambling. Lance reached out placed his hand on Keith’s shoulder, gently squeezing. The contact seemed to help Keith, letting him refocus.

“Okay,” Keith took a deep breath and started over. “I, uh, I got a call from a woman a little while after Matt left. A-and she said that…that she was my mother, Lance.”

“…what?” It’s no wonder no one was able to get in touch with Keith for the past few hours. He was probably close to catatonic for the most of the afternoon.

Keith grew up not knowing who his parents were. He lived his childhood in different homes, never settling and never finding his ‘forever home’. Lance knows that Keith has worked hard in life to not let his shitty past bring him down, and he had done so many amazing things in life without support of family that Lance is still in awe. But now his past was being dragged back to the surface, and Keith? Lance wasn’t sure what his fiancé was feeling at the moment.

“This woman…she’s you mom?” He asked.

“I don’t know if she was telling the truth or not.” Keith sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I hung up pretty quickly.”

“What did she say exactly?”

“Just that. She just, asked my name, told me her name was Krolia and then blurted out that she was my mother. I mean, who the fuck does that?”

Lance didn’t have an answer for him. “Did she try to call again?” he asked.

Keith shook his head. “No. Guess she got the hint that I didn’t want to talk.”

“That’s kinda weird. If she is your mom, you’d think that she’d at least try a little harder.”

“What if she isn’t, Lance? What if this random woman just wants something from me? Like, I don’t, money or something.”

“Keith, our lives aren’t interesting enough for that to happen. I’m just an ordinary little musician and you’re just some guy who stands in front of a camera.” Lance joked. He felt his heart sore when Keith let out a little huff of laughter.

“Behind the camera too.” Keith added.

“Yeah, that too.”

Lance grabbed Keith’s hand, entwining their fingers. He managed to drain some of the tension, but there was still a hefty amount left.

“Lance,” Keith squeezed Lance’s hand tighter. “What if she really is my mom?”

“Then…then I don’t know, love. You taught me a while ago that family isn’t just the people you’re related too. It’s also up to you to choose who those people are. Like you and Allura. She’s your sister, in every sense of the word, and you didn’t meet her until you were like, practically an adult already.” Lance wrapped his arm around Keith’s shoulder and pulled him close. “If this woman, Krolia, if she really is your birth mom, then fine. That’s it. You don’t have to know or do anything more with that knowledge. Hell, you don’t even have to talk to her again if you don’t want to. It’s your choice and your choice alone.”

Keith nodded, gripping his phone tightly once again. His eyes flickered down to the ground. “I thought…I thought I always knew who I was. Where I came from. I just— I accepted the fact that I would never know who my real parent were or why they left me. Now I feel like a completely different person.”

“You’re the same as you’ve always been, love. You’re still Keith. The same guy I had a crush on for years before we met. The same Keith that loves cats and will eat a whole tub of ice cream and then complain about the stomachache an hour later. Your weird and clever and so damn beautiful that sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky. This doesn’t change you, Keith. Nothing will. Only you have that power.”

Nothing more was said as the two sat up on the roof. Nothing needed to be said. Keith finally set his phone down on the ground and cuddled up to Lance as much as he could. Around them, the sun fully set and the flickering lights of the city surrounded them like stars.

* * *

 

In the early morning, Keith was hunched over the kitchen counter with a mug of coffee in his hands. The cakes Lance had brought from Hunk yesterday were all spread out on the counter and Keith was looking at them with a critical eye.

After finally looking at his phone and seeing the pictures Lance had sent him, Keith had a pretty good idea which style he liked the best. Now it was time for tasting.

Keith sampled two of the five before Lance wandered into the kitchen. His hair was an absolute mess, but Keith always liked the bedhead look. Lance hadn’t bothered to wear a shirt last night to bed so he was simply wearing a pair of grey pajama pants, his bare chest on display.

Lance raised a brow at Keith. “Cake for breakfast? Nice. God I love being and adult.”

Keith handed him a fork and turned to turned to pour Lance a cup of coffee. The bitter taste was a nice compliment to the sweet cake that early in the morning.

“I know it’s boring, but I still love the vanilla cake.” Lance spoke with food still in his mouth. Keith swatted Lance’s fork away before he could eat the whole thing.

“We could always make it interesting with the filling.” Keith suggested. “That buttercream in the angel food cake is fucking amazing.”

“True, true.”

“Hey, Lance?”

“Hm?”

“I just wanted to thank you. For last night.”

“Dude—“

“I know, I know. ‘We’ve been dating for years and were freaking engaged, it’s what I’m supposed to do,’ blah blah.”

“That’s not what I was going to say!” Lance pouted.

Keith raised a single eyebrow. “Oh really?”

“…okay, I maybe that’s _kinda_ close…”

“See? I know you, Lance McClain.”

“Yeah yeah, whatever, Kogane.”

Keith tapped the back of Lance’s hand with his finger, getting his attention. “Really, though. Thank you.”

Lance intertwined their fingers. Keith absolutely adored the contrast between their skin. “You’re welcome, love. Now, did you try all these yet? ‘Cuz I’m about to devour this one.”

“ _Lance_. How the hell do manage to look like a twig and eat as much as you do?”

“I am not a twig!”

“Okay, a small tree then.”

“That’s not any better!”

“Fine. You’re a big buff manly man. Happy?”

“I would be if that wasn’t laced with sarcasm, dude.”

Keith groaned. “Ugh, stop calling me ‘dude’. We’re getting married in fifteen days.”

Now it was Lance’s turn to groan. “ _Fifteen days_. How in the hell are we going to pull this off?

“We’ll be fine.” Keith grinned. “As long as I have you, nothing can go wrong.”

Keith laughed as Lance practically collapsed on the kitchen counter. His face was redder then Keith with a sunburn.

“Keith, mi armor, mi vida, mi alma…you can’t just do that to my heart! You know I’m weak!”

“I know. And I love you.”

A mumbled reply came shortly after. Moments later, Lance sat up and stomped around the kitchen counter to pull Keith into a kiss.

They decided on a vanilla cake with raspberry buttercream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dunno if anyone is still reading this, but hey look, I finally got an up date out! It's a miracle lol. So, a random plot appeared? I didn't really have a plan going into this story (not like a ever do lol) but i guess i just got really stuck this time around and couldn't fine a reason to keep writing this story. but then, something just clicked and i wrote this. 
> 
> I can't say that I will continue to update this story regularly. It's still going to be pretty random, but now that i have somewhat of a plot, hopefully i can find more time to work on this :D
> 
> Anywho, for any of those peeps still reading, thanks for waiting! I really appreciate it. <3 <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I sing for you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter, but just think of it as a big thank you for all of your lovely comments last chapter! I really didn't expect it and I was just a puddle of happiness :D
> 
> So thanks once again for your support! I hope you like this little chapter and thank you so much for sticking with this story. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

Fifteen days until the wedding, Keith and Allura were finally able to go shopping.

Two days later, the pair were in the back room of a local designers showroom, picking out the final details. While Keith was having a good time, Allura was suffering.

“Keith, please decide on tie this century. I would like to see my family again.” Allura had practically melted in the cushioned chair in the dressing room. Her platinum pony tail was pulled over her eyes like she was trying to hide.

“Stop being so dramatic. I’ll pick one eventually.” Keith was currently pinned into a very dapper looking tux jacket, the pants already fitted to perfection a few days ago. It was a dark, charcoal grey with a black collar. Silver buttons would be added after the tux had been properly tailored.

Currently, there were twenty three ties on the table. Not counting bow ties.

“Wasn’t Lance supposed to be coming?” Allura asked. “This is his fitting too.”

“Yeah he’s on his way. He’s picking up lunch.”

“Oh no, you are not turning this into a full day event, Keith.”

“Too late.”

Allura groaned and sunk further into her seat. A few moments later, a young woman with vibrant magenta hair swiftly entered the room.

“Pocket squares! I can’t believe I almost forgot pocket squares.” Ezor made room on the table and laid out a pile of beautiful silk squares.

Keith grinned. “Awesome. Thanks, Ezor.”

“Of course! Anything for my favorite customer.”

Behind them, Allura huffed. “Oh please, the only reason you’re being so nice is because Keith promised to promote your designs after the wedding.”

Ezor shrugged “Duh, that’s why he’s my favorite.”

Keith chuckled. He actually appreciated Ezor’s honesty. It was always a relief knowing what a person wanted up front instead of waiting for some sort of truth bomb to drop later. The designer was ambitious and had the talent to back up her big talk. Keith had no problem helping her out.

“Oh hey, Lance is grabbing some food for lunch, do you want anything?” he asked the designer.

“Nah, I’m good. I brought my lunch.” After a moment of hesitation, Ezor spoke again. “But if he’s passing by a Starbucks, I wouldn’t say no to a venti Dragon Fruit Refresher.”

“Got it.” Keith fired off a text to Lance.

Ezor slid the tux off of Keith’s shoulders, careful not to poke him with a pin. Thankfully there were only a few things that needed to be altered. Keith could only hope that things would go so smoothly with Lance’s fitting.

Ezor set to work on Keith’s jacket and Allura finally accepted her fate and jumped into helping Keith choose a tie and a pocket square.

“Do you even know what color the flowers are going to be?” she asked.

“Purple.”

“…and?”

“Just purple.” Keith blinked. “Are we supposed to have more?”

“Typically, yes. Traditionally couples pick two colors to be featured in their wedding. Flowers, decorations, everything sort of follows the color scheme. You should know this, Keith. You did help with my wedding plans.”

“You did most of the work yourself, Allura. All I did was keep you sane and help you with your makeup.”

“And you did a fine job at both of those tasks” Allura pat his shoulders with a grin. “Now, back to the matter at hand, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you only have one color. Seeing as this is you and Lance getting married, I doubt either of you care much for tradition.” Allura messed up Keith’s hair, a teasing smile on her lips.

Having her there was the best thing Keith could ask for. She wasn’t afraid to knock Keith down a few pegs and talk him out of a silly or downright dumb idea. Even with Lance in the picture, Allura was still Keith’s number one impulse control (mainly because Lance would just tag along with whatever crazy idea Keith had in mind).

Allura filtered through the choices quickly, setting aside the ones she thought would work the best. In no time at all, the options had wilted down to half of the original total.

“Now, you don’t have to like this, but I think I’d be sweet if the two of you wore different colors.” She held up two thin ties in opposite hands. One was rich cherry red, with a subtle diamond pattern on the silk. The other was a navy blue, more matte looking then the other.

“Allura, are you not so subtly telling me we need to change our colors?” Keith frowned. “Aggie may like us, but I feel like she’d send us a bag of mulch instead of flowers if we change the colors this late. That and I think that Lance’s sister is making us place cards with purple designs...”

Allura rolled her eyes. “I’m not saying that, just— look, what does red and blue make?”

Keith blinked at her, confused. “Um… what?”

“Mixed together,” she clarified. “What color does red and blue make?”

“…purple?”

“Yes!”

“Allura what— _oh_ , I see what you did. Huh. That’s…that’s kinda cute.” Keith realized.

“I know. That’s why I suggested it.”

“Wow, aren’t you proud of yourself.” Keith teased.

“Very.” Allura agreed. “Of course, it’s just a suggestion. If you want to stick to your color or even find a complementary color, I suggested these…”

Keith listened to Allura explain all of her choices, but his mind kept wondering back to the red and blue ties.

It was kind of cheesy, and yet pretty profound when Keith really thought about it. Two different colors mixing together and creating something new.

Two different lives joining together on a new journey.

It seemed…fitting, in a way. Keith and Lance were as different as the moon and sun, and yet here they are. Getting ready to spend the rest of their lives together. Having the red and blue represent themselves and then their wedding dressed in the mix of those colors…

 _Dammit. Allura is a genius,_ Keith thought.

“Something wrong?” Allura asked curiously.

“No,” Keith signed. “I’m just trying to figure out how to call you a genius without it going to your head.”

Allura grinned a wide, Cheshire grin. “Oh my dear Keith, I have been telling you for years that I am the smartest person you know. Well, maybe not compared to Pidge, but I am defiantly the most clever.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. You’re brilliant. Let’s move on now.”

“Certainly.”

“Now I like the red and blue idea, but we still have to run it by Lance.”

Speaking of his fiancé, Lance pushed through the door moments later. Two bags of food were hanging off his arms and a drink carrier with four large beverages was balancing on one hand. Keith walked over to help, taking the drinks and pecking Lance on the cheek as a silent thanks.

“I have arrived with sustenance!” Lance exclaimed. “And before anyone notices, yes my shirt is wet. Why? Well let’s just say I had to go into Starbucks twice on my way here. On the plus side, they were super nice gave me a cake pop.”

Keith laughed, almost dropping the drinks himself. “That explains why you smell like coffee. Of maybe not considering everyone here orders basically liquid sugar.”

“I take offense to that, babe.” Lance pouted.

“As do I.” Allura joined in. “There’s coffee in my drink.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Yeah, like teaspoon. The rest is syrup and you know it.”

“No comment.” Allura snatched her drink from the cardboard carrier and plopped back down in her seat.

Keith delivered Ezor’s tea, chuckling a bit when he realized that the vibrate color of the drink matched her hair almost perfectly.

After everyone was settled around the room, eating and chatting, Allura explained to Lance her idea with the ties.

“Since you don’t really have a theme and only one color, I just thought it’d be a good idea to bring more color into the ceremony. That and the symbolism is really very sweet if you think about it. I mean, they’re your favorite colors, too. Aren’t they?”

Keith didn’t even think of that. Red and blue…Keith and Lance. Those were practically interchangeable. Keith couldn’t say he even remembered telling Lance his favorite color and vice versa. It just _was_.

Son of a nutcracker, Allura was a certified genius.

Lance had dropped his fork into his chow mein, both hands no on his cheeks as he uttered the loudest ‘awwww’ Keith had ever heard.

“That’s. So. CUTE.” Lance practically squealed. “Allura! My goddess, my light, you win every award ever for coming up with that. Omg, I can’t believe we didn’t think of this before.”

Keith was in the middle of stealing some of noodles when Lance turned to him. Caught red handed, Keith stared at Lance as he scooped up a large helping of chow mein and slid it over to his plate.

“Rude. And here we were having a moment.” Lance tried to pout, but the corner of his lips were turned up like he was trying not to smile.

“I’ll give you my egg roll.”

“All is forgiven. But for real? That’s a great idea Allura. Thanks for that.”

Allura nodded. “No problem at all, Lance. I’m more than happy to help.”

After lunch, it was time for Lance to try on his tux. By some miracle, both the pants and the jacket fit beautifully. Ezor was absolutely ecstatic when she realized that she wouldn’t have to do another alteration. The designer pat herself on the back for getting Lance’s tux done right on the first try.

“This is like, the nicest thing I’ve ever worn.” Lance looked at his form in the mirror, idly running his fingers over the material. The tux was black, almost plain looking at first glance. However Ezor’s design was anything but plain.

Flowing, smooth lines of embroidery decorated the jacket. Intricate swirling patterns made up of dark blue and grey threads, almost too dark to see. The embroidery began at the bottom and also on the sleeves, getting less and less prevalent as it crawled up to the top. Almost like vines stretching out on a wall.

Even the pants had an intricate pattern on them. Two solid lines of embroidery were sew onto the sides, right were the tuxedo stripe would be.  

It was unique and beautiful. Just like Lance.

Keith stepped up behind Lance and wrapped his arms around his fiancé’s waist. “You look really handsome.”

“Thanks.” Lance grinned at Keith in the mirror.

“Really. You look really, really good.”

Lance blushed, his usual confident look giving way to something a little more bashful. “You think so?”

“I’ve said it twice already, but I can complement you more if you like?”

“ _Keith_.” Lance’s ears were red now. He really could not handle compliments some times.

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop.” Keith chuckled, kissing Lance quick on the cheek before he let go.

Once Lance had changed and everything had been decided, Lance Allura and Keith left Ezor’s studio. Most of the day had already come and gone but the city was just as busy as ever. People running to and fro, cars impatiently driving down the roads. No city ever slept. Not really.

Keith and Lance waved good bye to Allura as they got into their cars. As Keith slid into Lance’s car, he quickly slouched down into the seat. He was much more tired than he realized. It was peaceful, serene almost, until Lance got a hold of the aux cord.

“Really? Seventeen _again_? Lance you’ve been listening to them for the past three days straight.” Keith grumbled. Lance had been listening to the k-pop group so much that Keith was falling asleep with their music in his head.

“I can’t help it! I’ve caught the bug and am now a k-pop fan! Don’t deny me, Keith! I have an addiction.”

“I’ve noticed.”

Lance turned up the volume as he pulled on to the main road. “C’mon, Keith. Sing with me! You know you all the words.”

“Yeah, maybe because I can actually speak Korean? You just sing the vowels.”

“And rap.”

“And rap. How could I forget.”

Suddenly, Lance flashed Keith a sly smile. As the car rolled to a stop at a red light, Lance unlocked his phone and picked a new song.

Keith’s eye twitched. This was his guilty pleasure song. The one he would sing in the shower or jam out to when he was cleaning the house. This was the one damn song in the entire universe that Keith might or might not have actually learned some of the choreography too (and by some he means _all_ ).

Lance, that cheeky bastard, knew exactly what he was doing.

It took all of three seconds before Keith was singing along. The words rolled off his tongue effortlessly and every once and a while, Keith would find himself dancing in his seat. Next to him, Lance was absolutely butchering the words, but still singing along with a gigantic smile on his face.  

Thirteen days until the wedding.

Keith couldn’t wait.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (i recently started listening to Seventeen and in the span of one week I learned all of their names, downloaded all their albums and watched countless hours of their videos on YouTube. so I am Lance in this situation. i just HAD to include my new hyper fixation some how lol) 
> 
> Thank you for reading, my lovelies!!  
> <3 <3 <3


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